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With his infectious wit and pocketful of anecdotes, Anders Larsen is the type of person you might think should write a book—and then he tells you he has. His ode to shaving, Sharp Practice—the Real Man’s Guide to Shaving, has recently been published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
So after many years in front of a mirror shaving with a cutthroat razor, does Anders consider himself a barber?
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Born in Beirut of Danish/Irish parentage, Anders has taught English in Abu Dhabi and Mexico, played volleyball for Ireland and has held an unusual array of jobs, from toilet cleaner in New York to demolition man in Munich.
“But I am not now—nor have I ever been—a barber,” said Anders, a manager with Accenture’s Communications & High Tech Outsourcing practice, who provides IT support for an Accenture client in Dublin.
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Anders’ cutthroat ways
“About 20 years ago I bought a cutthroat razor in an old cutlery shop in Dublin. I was in my early twenties then and had no idea how to use it, so I taught myself. I still use the cutthroat razor today because it gives the best shave possible. This is how I got the idea for the book.”
Anders scoured the Internet and found that there was no real guide to the ultimate shave. He pitched the idea to an agent and before he knew it, publishers were giving Anders the “close shave” to deliver the book in the “nick of time."
“They wanted to release it for Christmas, so I wrote it in my spare time in about two months,” Anders said. “They wanted it to have more market appeal, so the book is broadened out to contain all aspects of shaving, including the history of shaving along with my personal experiences and philosophies.”
In addition to everyday tips and advice for achieving the “ultimate luxury shave,” readers will find bizarre stories from history such as how Alexander the Great commanded his army to shave so the enemy couldn’t grab hold of their beards in battle. Anders also shares humorous anecdotes from his own shaving experiences—like the time he was accidentally shaved bald in a Turkish barber shop after falling asleep in the chair.
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Rave reviews
The book has earned some rave reviews in the United Kingdom. One reader in London recently received the book as a birthday present and commented: “I’m going to get a cutthroat,” he said. “I hadn’t been expecting much, but after reading it I was really impressed.”
“The book has also been getting a lot of publicity in the newspapers and on the radio,” Anders added. “The target sales figure in the UK and Ireland is 40,000 copies and my agent is also currently negotiating North American and translation rights.”
Mindful of that fact that everything comes to the man who waits, including a beard, Anders says he is quietly confident that his book will be a success.
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More information
Sharp Practice–the Real Man’s Guide to Shaving is published in hardcover by Bantam Press and is available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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March 2007
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